by Sarah Olson
Rebecca smiled.
“So . . .” Sir Edward said looking like he was suddenly feeling left out. “You two plan on having children soon?”
It was probably the most uncomfortable question he could ask in his desperation for attention.
“Umm—well,” Rebecca began, trying to find an answer.
“Soon,” Richard intervened.
“Yes,” Rebecca said. “Richard’s cousin Emily actually just had a daughter a few months ago and she is the most darling angel.”
“Congratulations to her!” I exclaimed. “I have a daughter as well.”
“Do you now?” Rebecca asked as she eyed my left hand for a ring.
“You have a daughter?” Sir Edward asked somewhat horrified at the notion. “I didn’t know you were married.”
“Oh, I’m not,” I said laughing. “I was going to marry the father when I found out I was with child, but he left me. It seems he had more important matters in life than his own child. I have not seen him since. The last I heard, he had married another woman.”
“I’m so sorry to hear that,” Rebecca said sympathetically.
“What can I say?” I said. “Men can be insufferable at times.”
Rebecca laughed while Richard pulled at his collar uncomfortably.
“I think I see a friend of mine over there,” Sir Edward said awkwardly. “I’ll be right back.”
I knew he would not.
“Is it true that this palace has one of the most wonderful libraries in the entire kingdom?” I asked.
“Yes,” Rebecca said. She seemed unfazed by my scandalous admission. “It has more books than you can imagine! I’m sure if you want to go and see it you may.”
“I would love that!” I said. “Which way is it?”
“Right over there,” she said, turning around and pointing at the hall. “The first door on your left when you enter the hall.”
“Thank you,” I said. “And it was a pleasure meeting both of you.” I curtsied and walked away, downing the champagne and placing it on the table nearest me.
That was my signal for James to go to the library. He excused himself politely from the women and they seemed sad to see him go. I smirked at their disappointment and watched him disappear around the corner. The next part of the plan was for me to head over to the library a few minutes later hoping Richard would eventually follow and not turn me right over to the guards. I took my time making my way over to the hall and then opened the library door and slid right in.
The library was empty aside from Mitchell and Charlotte giggling in the corner like two lovebirds. They’re presence was just to make Richard feel comfortable in approaching me by letting him know he wasn’t alone. I told Mitchell to keep his mask on the whole time so Richard would not recognize him.
“Layla,” James whispered from between some shelves.
I walked over to him.
“Do you think he’ll follow you?” he asked.
“He has to know it’s me by now, so yes,” I said. “But we stick to your escape plan if guards burst in instead.”
“Let’s just hope it doesn’t come to that,” he said grimly. “And Emily almost recognized me.”
“That’s not the only woman you seemed to have caught up in your ridiculous charm.”
He gave me a sly smile. “You admit I’m charming?”
I glared at him.
“Oh, please, Layla,” James said, rolling his eyes. “I’m not bothering you about that man you danced with.”
“He was a perfect gentleman,” I lied.
“He couldn’t keep his eyes off you,” James said bitterly. “It was disrespectful.”
“I knew you didn’t just dance with me because you felt like it. You just didn’t want me to dance with him.”
“Are you telling me that you didn’t even realize how far his hand was traveling down your back?” James asked, his eyes becoming hard.
I clenched my jaw. “Everything I did in there was for this mission, nothing more.”
“Of course.”
“I’m going to stay by the door.” I needed to put space between us.
James did not respond as I walked away.
Charlotte looked up and I nodded to let her know everything was going according to plan—so far. I pretended to be interested in some books on the shelf in case someone other than Richard came in.
After about ten minutes, I began to feel uneasy.
What if he never comes? What do I do?
The door suddenly opened and Richard stepped in cautiously looking around. I glanced up from the book I was pretending to read when he saw me.
“I thought you’d never come,” I said to him, closing the book.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, taking off his mask.
“I came to see you,” I replied. “It’s been too long and I thought you’d want to know about your daughter.”
“She’s not my daughter!” he whispered fiercely when he realized we were not alone. He came up close to my face so he would not have to talk so loud.
“How long are you going to believe that?” I asked him. “You know you were the only man I had ever been with!” Rage began building up inside me.
Richard remained silent probably because he realized he was going to have to accept the one thing he did not want to.
“Regardless,” he snapped. “You used me. You always knew who your parents were.”
“You really think I wanted your crown!” I exclaimed. “I wanted you, Richard! I loved you, and you cast me aside like dirt because of who my parents were. I never wanted any of this!”
James snuck up behind him, knife in hand.
“You’re a liar,” he said. “You always were, too. Lying to your aunt and uncle on where you were or what you did all day. It’s in your blood just the way it was in your father’s—”
James grabbed him and whipped him around, holding the knife to his throat. “Scream or try anything and I will slit your throat,” James hissed in his ear.
Pure surprise and horror shone on Richard’s face. “I knew you didn’t come here just to dance. I should’ve alerted the guards immediately.”
“Shut up,” James said, dragging him to the door of the back room.
The fire in the fireplace was burning, as Richard had told me it always would be, and everything seemed to be in the same place. Charlotte and Mitchell came in behind us, closing the door. I turned the sculpture of a horse on the third shelf from the door and wall shuddered.
“You’re going to pay for this,” Richard hissed.
I ignored him and kicked up the rug like Richard had done those few years before and with Mitchell’s help, we pulled the shelf open with a grating sound.
“That’s just a little too loud,” Charlotte said. “Thank heavens there’s a ball.”
I pulled the torch off the wall and threw it to Charlotte. “Light it in the fireplace.”
“You will pay a traitor’s death for this,” Richard said again. “First the torture of one, and then hanging.”
“Will you just shut up?” I snapped.
“We should have known you were coming,” Richard said as James practically dragged him down the stairs into the passageway.
“I jammed the door,” Mitchell said, coming down last.
“How would you have known?” I asked as Charlotte handed me the torch.
“We caught that spy you’ve all had in the palace for all these years,” Richard sneered. “We’d been onto him for a while and then when a servant said he had seen him stealing invitations, he claimed they were for poor friends who really wanted to attend.”
I suddenly felt sick.
“My father didn’t buy it—we are still in the process of trying to get the truth out of him since we couldn’t find the invitations. I guess he sent them to you,” Richard continued. “Perhaps you all know him. Let me see, what was the name?”
He was mocking us now.
“Oh, I remember!” Richard exclaime
d. “Tristan Livingston.”
Chapter 41
THE NAME ECHOED through the musty passageway as it pierced my heart.
“You lie!” James growled, slamming Richard against the wall.
Richard winced in pain. “I’m not!”
“We can’t leave him,” I said to James as panic set in.
Charlotte took out her knife shoving James out of the way and held it up to Richard’s neck.
“Where is he?” she growled. “Tell me where!”
“In the dungeons!” Richard cried, his face contorted in fear.
“I think I can get us there,” I said, thinking back to the doors Richard had told me were at the end of the passageway.
“It’s too risky,” James said, taking hold of Richard again as Mitchell pulled Charlotte off him.
She was at the brink of tears as she cursed at him.
“We’re on a schedule,” James said, becoming the cold general I knew so well. “We need to go.”
We ran down the passageway searching for the hidden exit on the left.
I slid my hand along the wall until I felt the outline of the hidden door. “Here it is.”
“The map said the fourth stone up,” James said.
Mitchell ran his fingers up the right side of the door and found the fourth stone. He pushed it and the door shuddered. With Charlotte’s help, the two of them pushed it open. The whole tunnel echoed with the creak and grating sound. Mitchell took another torch off the wall and lit it with mine.
“Let’s go,” James said, pushing Richard along behind Mitchell.
I ran behind them trying to come up with something that could help us save Tristan. I could not leave him here, not when he had risked everything for me.
We found the stairs and climbed them slowly, trying not to trip. When we
reached the ceiling, Mitchell pushed up with all his might and the trapdoor opened into a cave.
“Sapphire,” a voice called in the gloomy darkness.
“Show us our true queen,” Mitchell called back.
“That went much quicker than I thought,” Sir Alexander said, stepping out of the shadows.
Charlotte followed Mitchell out.
“Take him,” James commanded, shoving Richard through the door. “Come on, Layla.”
But I was not moving. “I’m going to get him,” I said. I spun around and headed back down the stairs before anyone could stop me.
“Layla!” James yelled after me as I sprinted back to the opened door.
I stopped in the hall and held the torch out listening hard for any movement in the tunnel. I heard someone running up behind me so I took off heading left.
A hand grabbed my arm yanking me to a halt.
“Stop!” James said, pushing me against the wall. “You can’t go down there.”
“You can’t stop me,” I said, dropping the torch and shoving him with all my might just enough to slip around him.
“Yes I can,” he said, grabbing me harder and holding me against the wall this time.
“You don’t understand!” I cried. “It’s my fault he’s here in the first place.”
“No, it’s not. None of this is your fault. It is life and this is what happens. You can’t blame yourself for everything.”
“I. Have. To. Find. Him,” I said slowly.
James did not say anything for a moment, and then surprisingly his grip loosened.
“Fine,” he said. “But I’m coming with you.”
We ran down the tunnel until we hit the two doors.
“Do you remember which one it is,” James asked.
I closed my eyes trying to remember what Richard had said.
“This will take you all the way to the fort?”
“Yes, it is roughly half a mile and then you hit two doorways at the end. The one on the right leads to the dungeons—”
“This one,” I said reaching for the door.
James stopped my hand. “I don’t know what will be on the other side of this door, but before we open it I want to tell you something.”
Everything seemed to slow down for a second. I looked up at him feeling a sudden tingling through my spine.
“I am sorry for being so unbearable all the time,” he said. “I should’ve never acted the way I did. You deserve better.”
My heart leapt as surprise overtook me.
“I don’t hate you,” he continued in almost a whisper. “And I never have. I just wanted you to know that in case this ends badly.”
“Then let’s not let it end that way,” I said. I reached down, taking out my daggers from my boots as James took out two knives.
He grabbed the knob and I nodded. Turning it, he gently pushed the door open. Firelight spilled out of a hall on the right. We quietly crept towards it ready for any danger. As we reached the corner, I peered around it to find two guards. One was leaning against a door and the other was sitting on a short stool, asleep against the wall.
“I think it might be through that door,” I said in a low whisper, turning to James.
He nodded. “Any ideas?”
A perfect one presented itself in my mind so I slid the daggers back into my boots. I went to step forward but James held me back.
“What are you doing?” he whispered sharply.
“Trust me,” I said, shaking myself from his grip.
I stepped forward into the hall. “Oh my!” I exclaimed drunkenly.
“Who goes there?” the guard standing shouted.
The one who was sitting woke and stood quickly.
“I think I’m lost,” I said, looking at them thankful I was still wearing a mask.
“How did you get down here?” the guard that had been asleep asked.
“I don’t know,” I said, stupidly slurring my words. “I was in the library and then this wall opened—and now I’m here!”
“You can’t be down here,” the guard by the door said.
“I’m sorry,” I said stepping forward and slightly swaying to the side. “I really am.”
“Come with me, Miss,” the guard that had been sleeping said, walking towards me. “I’ll take you back to the ball.”
“Oh, thank you, sir!” I giggled.
He put his arm around me and led me around the corner. James moved in quickly. He threw his knife across the tunnel hitting the other guard as I elbowed the one next to me catching him off guard and threw him down to the ground as he tried for his sword. James jumped down holding his other knife to his throat as I kicked his sword away.
“Where are the dungeons?” he demanded as I kept a wary eye looking for any other alerted guards.
“That way,” the guard sputtered, pointing to the door. “Please don’t kill me.”
“Where is Tristan Livingston?” James said.
“The spy?” the man asked.
“You know exactly who I’m talking about!” James yelled, hitting the man’s head on the ground.
The man yelped in pain. “He’s in there! I just don’t know which cell!”
“You’re useless,” James spat, slamming the guard in the head with the hilt of his knife.
The man slumped unconscious.
“Let’s go,” James said, jumping to his feet.
He ran over to the guard he had killed and pulled the knife out of his chest wiping the blood on the man’s uniform. I froze at the sight of the dead man’s eyes staring into nothingness. Apart from Robert, I had never seen a dead man before. Even through all the training, never once did I think I would soon be killing people the same way James had. I watched as James yanked the keys to the door off the dead man and then strapped his sword onto himself. He had always told me that swords were his favorite weapons, now he was armed with one.
“Come on,” James said, grabbing my arm and pulling me away from the lifeless body.
“He’s dead—”
“Layla,” he said stopping and placing his hands on my shoulders so I had his full attention. “This is war, people die. We need
to keep moving.”
I nodded, pushing the man’s pale face from my head, and followed James down the tunnel. The cells we passed were empty and as we turned down another row of them, two more guards surprised us. James wielded his new sword skillfully killing one of them instantly. The other came at me and I rolled to the side drawing my daggers as he ran at me again sword held high. I rammed the sharp blade swiftly into his stomach feeling his hot blood pour onto my hand. His face contorted in pain and then he fell backwards as I pulled the blade out.
My very first kill.
I fell back onto the floor, eyes wide staring at my bloody hand and blade, and then to the man writhing on the floor until he became still. I suddenly had the urge to vomit.
James knelt in front of me. “Keep your goal in mind and it will get you through everything,” he said.
I focused on his face and nodded.
He stood up and stretched out his hand. “We have to find Tristan.”
I swallowed the taste of bile and took his hand. James pulled me up and we continued down the row of prison cells, checking each one with a torch he had pulled off the wall. Prisoners sat tied against walls bloodied and bruised. I wanted to save them all but knew it would take too much time.
I made it to the last cell and looked in. There was a man standing in the center of it with his arms strung out to a long piece of wood. Ropes held him up but his head was slumped forward. His shirt was torn into shreds and bloody whip lashes spread across his back and torso. Bruises lined his arms and body. His short black hair lay matted across his face, the face I would recognize anywhere.
It was Tristan.
Chapter 42
“IN HERE!” I screamed, grabbing the knob on the door and trying to open it. “James! Hurry!”
James jammed key after key into the hole until one clicked and the door flung open.
“Tristan!” I cried, taking his face into my hands.
His eyes were closed but I could tell he was breathing.
“Please wake up,” I said, tears welling up in my eyes.
“We need to cut him down,” James said, taking his knife to the thick ropes.
One by one, he sawed through them. Tristan’s body was limp and he began to fall to the ground until James and I lowered him gently.
“Tristan,” I said again. “It’s me Layla. I’m here to save you. Please wake up.”